Saturday, September 19, 2009

eid this 2009

eid is close and i'm pretty sure a lot of us are preparing for its auspicious celebration...that means cleaning up, cooking, baking, shopping (not that i've done THAT yet) and yes, some of us are even partying like no tomorrow (okay i've ran out of things to list so i just added that up for good measure!)...i've done some basic cleaning up, not that i expect anyone to drop and visit me for eid but hey, a girl likes to be prepared...i'm not cooking anything this year (or previous years for that matter) but i'm glad i, at least contributed something to eid celebration this time...


yesterday, dora and i baked (hmm was it 'bake'?maybe 'prepare'?) a boxful of honey cornflakes...i must admit i don't know its name but i assumed it's called that....it's a relatively easy eid traditonal 'kuih' or a type of malay specialties that are akin to tea-cakes and cookies and pastries (though kuih has a definite different flavour and texture)...okay, maybe honey cornflakes are not exactly traditional kuih but u get what i mean...okay, i mean we usually have that as one of the array of kuih served on eid...


anyway, as we prepare the honey cornflakes, i ate as much as i made them...it was so yummy i get high on sugar rush...we put these cute milk chocolate buttons on top of each small cup of honey cornflakes and they melt like heaven...can't wait for me, uhmm, other people to visit us and eat the cornflakes (thanks for the cornflakes dora!hehehe)...anyway, another story to tell is that while preparing, we got so sleepy dora asked me to play songs from my mobile...of course, being me, my playlist is at least 2 years old...it was like reminiscing back to my second here in auckland, by listening to the songs...i've got 5ive - until the time is through, carpenters songs and a handful of teary-break-up-i'm dying and r&b songs...typical me...


lastly, to my family and all of my friends and muslim and muslimah out there:

eid mubarak!!!!please forgive me for all of my past and future (because i'm just too human) wrong-doings and mistakes and have a great eid with full of happiness!^^


Friday, September 11, 2009

exercise and diet - things i do for love

i'm starting up a new regiment of diet and exercise today (after gobbling up half box of yummy fat-laden chocolate)...i have to lose weight to be healthy and i need to exercise to keep healthy (here's the theme - lose weight or end up a boyfriendless loser forever)...so, i hate exercising in public...the very thought of jumping mindlessly around with my rolls of fats bouncing here and there for public consumption fills me with with unspeakable dread and horror...i hit on this idea suddenly!i got this skipping rope, a legend of indah...so, skipping it is...


since i'm yet to be fit as fiddle, i'm doing a-minute-of-jumping-and-rest-and-on-again-with-skipping for 30 minutes a day...at least that's my ideal...as for diet, i'll keep off chocolates (give a whole bar to nia today hohoho!feel like giving me a good-pat-in-the-back!) and eat 2 meals a day, that's breakfast and lunch...i'll eat 1/2 cup of rice a day to limit my addiction to rice...anyway, i'll try these regiments first...hope it'll work and i'll at least shed a few kilos before eid next week!



Tuesday, September 8, 2009

movies and ice-creams - a girl best friend ^^

if there's one thing i'm fanatical about, it's history...historical romance, historical movies, historical dramas...anything period-related (well, other than my other obsessions, i do have tons, unfortunately)....period dresses captivate me...period manners are very interesting...anyway, rachel and i watched 'young victoria' today...no matter what critics might say about that movie (how extravagant in actions and reactions it is or whatever), i love it...simply adore it...it is very beautifully written and i love the love is patently obvious between albert and victoria...


since i love love story, it fits that this movie become my latest favourite...i've been reading about the english monarchy forever, and boy, they are a bunch of interesting people...so full of murders, mysteries and mistresses...ah not forgetting affairs and illegitimate offsprings...anyway, we had a fun movie date, rachel and i...afterward, regardless of the cold (i wonder what part of the cold signals the coming of spring?it's just darned cold!well at least at night), we gifted ourselves some great ice-creams at giapo...rachel got a yummilicious cherries-pistachio-tiramisu cup while i got cherries-and-hazelnut cup...they were indeed heavenly, at NZ$3.50 per scoop (heavenly in taste and price)....


i might be more than 20 bucks poorer today, but both rachel and i enjoyed ourselves (despite of shivering while eating ice-cream...kinda nuts when i think about it)...such a perfect ending of a perfect day ;)


p/s: now, what a nice girl like me can do to get a date with a young, reasonably matured hot guy?

Monday, September 7, 2009

eid in malaysia

funny, when my friends and i first came here (the first year in auckland), the first thing we thought about during a festive season like the eid (aidilfitri) was to send our picture and dedication to a malaysian newspaper...we chose our best pictures (usually pictures of us in a season that would never happen in malaysia like winter) and try to fit as many dedications as possible in a limited space and sent as many entries as possible to the utusan malaysia...we were garbed in our winter best (our winter coats and mufflers and what-not) and looked reasonably happy (while in real life, i was probably half frozen)....


after that we somehow lost our interest in that...we do our dedications in private now, sending cards with our love and best wishes in this happy time...at least that's what i do...i missed celebrating the eid with my family so much...i missed the feeling when i wake up mid-morning (mama will probably be knocking our doors most insistently with threats of baba arriving soon from his eid morning prayer)...i will probably be a sore bear who hates eid for the very reason that i am forced to wake so early in the morning (even though i am very excited the day before, with my baju kurung already pressed neatly and accessories all ready arranged accordingly on the table)...my other sisters will take turn to take their showers and i will be the last madam in line...


mama will probably already ready downstairs, smelling beautifully as usual (mama's smell)...baba will come home from eid morning prayer and all of us will ask for forgiveness from both mama and baba...there will be joviality in the air, with teasing of how stingy baba is in giving 'duit raya' (pocket money or malay version of angpau, a tradition adopted from the chinese from chinese new year)...next, we'll be bundled up in our family car to our next destinations - baba and mama's families homes (which are quite near our own, sadly i don't have a 'kampung' so i've never experience the 'raya in kampung' or aidilfitri in the rural areas/village feelings, with no lemang to bake or making ketupat before raya, or knocking neighbours doors for 'duit raya' on the first day of eid)....eid in the city is definitely different from eid in the village...


i missed nenek maridah's spicy fried chicken, beef rendang and display cake (the cake is only for display until first day of eid is over, so no touching, only looking)...nenek maridah is best cook, other than mama, of course....the first day of eid is full of unspoken expectations of a happy day and reunion of family members and all the good things in life...we wear our new clothes and all enmity is forgotten temporarily for that auspicious day...


i know eid will not be arriving in an approximately another 2 weeks, but the closer the day is, the more melancholic i feel...eid is definitely different here in auckland...it is not bad, just different...celebrating with friends, with no special holiday for eid celebration (sometimes celebrated during the exam/test period), there is less celebratory feelings in the air...however, all of us do our best to celebrate it...we have our big celebration, usually about a week after eid due to circumstances but i am still happy that we are still celebrating...anyhow, this is not meant to sadden those who are far away from the loved ones...this is a reminder that no matter how far our loved ones are, i am sure we are all remembered as we remember them...my family will always be in my heart....


Sunday, September 6, 2009

dresses

right now i'm debating whether to buy a new dress or not...the maxis are coming back into fashion and some of the maxis i've seen at the shops on queen street look positively scrumptious!...the main reason for this sudden need of having a new dress is that i'm having a dinner this coming tuesday night...i'm kinda bored with my brown dress already (even though i still love u brown dress!don't despair!)...i've worn it like thousands of times aucklanders already known it by heart...so...i want a new dress!!!...is it wise, in economic sense?...not really...i should save...but i really want a new dress...


these are some of great dresses that i fell in love with while browsing through the net:






pictures courtesy of designerhighstreet.com ;)




give me more!!!!

i love belgian truffles!...how many of my posts started with 'i' for the first sentence, anyway?...uh...okay back to belgian truffles...i ate 200g worth of one of the greatest chocolates i've eaten in my whole chocolate-laden life within 2 days!!!the truffles are not the super exclusive nor super expensive like godiva, but i swear to god it's heavenly...dora, yaya, wee and i went to sylvia park's westfield and bought these heavenly truffles at k-mart...they are not terribly expensive but my-oh-my they took my breath away...


being cautious, i bought only 2 boxes of truffles...boy, wasn't i'm wallowing in regrets now...at least yaya and dora bought more than 2 boxes of these gift from heaven...*sigh*...i'm fighting the urge to open the other box that's left...i'm telling u, k-mart surprises all of us with the quality of it's belgian truffles...right now, i'm plotting of my plans to go to k-mart again and grab more boxes of these lovelies!so the whole point of this useless raving is that I WANT MORE BELGIAN TRUFFLES!!!!


point to ponder - indonesia vs malaysia

in my moments of clarity and sobriety, i've been thinking of people (and of course i, myself included) and things we've done and still doing that are foolish and causes undue and untold consequences...take war, for example...2 parties foolishly never try to compromise (or one party, at least, like america, become the judge and jury, believing that it can cure the world of 'terrorists' while they act like terrorists themselves by creating war here and there) and achieve peace by negotiation...war has grave consequences...death, poverty, suffering, and things that drive people to do more excessive behaviours that causes more misery...i'm taking a stand in believing war is not the answer, but then again, what do i know of the world, in my own naive perspective...


here is one issue i think people need to mull over and try to give proper, thoughtful response, instead of bull-heading and pointing fingers...take the case of manohara odelia pinot...i admit, i know nothing of her, of her family or her friends and circumstances...but being a realist, i inquire, is what her mother allegedly said true?...why she, herself keep quiet about it?....is she as blameless as claimed?....saying that her daughter were being abused by her ex-husband, the kelantanese royalty, and publishing it willy-nilly to the media, incite and fanning the rage of indonesian public that has already been blaming malaysians on many other things....indonesians have already claimed that malaysians steal their culture and whatnot, now we are abusing their citizens (including indonesian maids working in malaysia)...


and i've tried to find news or any blogs regarding malaysians' response to all these allegations...surprisingly, malaysians are more circumspect in our responses...not that i'm saying we are angels and act all patient and understanding...i'm claiming that most of malaysian medias are not actively propagating the issue and blowing things out of proportion, furthering the hatred and rage against the other country...these things are one of the things that can lead to bloodshed and war...did i ever say that malaysian royalties or malaysians blameless?...


no we're not...we're not perfect, we do wrong things and make mistakes but will fanning this unholy rage helps in settling this matter?...to me it made manohara and her mother appear foolish and greedy (why does she marry a royalty in the first place when she already has a boyfriend?her previous lifestyle before marriage is also suspect...we're talking about royalty here...it's a whole totally different lifestyle from manohara's previous clubbing and having fun scenes like the pictures uploaded everywhere in the net...royalty and being a royal, even with all the castles and money, is bound to have its own restrictions and boundaries and protocols)...


anyway, most malaysians are advised not to travel to indonesia nowadays, for being afraid of our safety....i really want to visit jakarta and bali with my girlfriends but my baba, i'm pretty sure will be dead set against it....is this what indonesian government and public want?...to further restrict the economic flow from its neighbouring contry?....with the burden of world bank debt, isn't a bit of help from the tourists, even from the hated malaysians aid in alleviating it?


i don't hate indonesia or indonesians...my father's ancestors are from indonesia...i am admittedly half-indonesian, look like one, however undiluted my blood is...my paternal grandmother still speaks her local indonesian dialect with her family...our family has a lot of indonesian maids...most of my uncles and aunties and my grandmother treat them well...i've seen it, i'm not being partial or anything...admittedly, my first paternal uncle and aunty are harsh with their maids...they give bad impressions on malaysians in general, but the again, they don't abuse their maids....


i love indonesian cultures, arts, music, food, shopping and country...but in comparison, sadly, i've seen how indonesia is like...yes, i've never been to other parts of indonesia other than bandung and i've never seen the whole of malaysia's nooks and crannies (even though i've travelled extensively throughout malaysian peninsular all of my life), but what i've seen breaks my heart...i've seen children begging on the road while i was in the taxi on the way to my hotel...i know malaysia has our share of poverty, yet, i've yet to see ragged children running to cars while the cars are stopping to beg alms in the city....and yet, i've seen claims that malaysia 'steal' a lot of things from indonesia...


did we steal ur freedom?....did we steal ur richness?...looking back to our shared history, i remember indonesia gained their independence earlier, way earlier than malaysia while malaysia was still struggling to break free from the british...is it not supposed to give indonesia a greater advantage in regaining the richness they lost from colonialism relative to malaysia?....malaysia have our share of grief...we lost singapore (admittedly to a rather foolish prime minister) and we had may 13 1969...we had our moments of grief, but we move on, trying hard to make our country better economically and in all other aspects...but coming back to the previously asked questions, in which part did we steal from indonesia?


that issue of manohara and her mother, is this one way to worsens the fragile relationship between indonesia and malaysia?...i'm praying hard that this wouldn't lead to war...here, i'm praying that both of us, indonesia and malaysia to be more circumspect and think deeply before we part with harsh words and accusations...i love my country...it may not be as popular as other south east asian countries like singapore, indonesia, thailand or the phillipines (i have people asking 'ah where is malaysia, exactly?'), but we are a peaceful country, with plenty of chances for education and better life...malaysia is one of the south east asian countries that doesn't borrow from the world bank in the 1998 economic downturn (thanks mainly to our shrewd dr. mahathir) and while we may not be a developed country (yet), like singapore, we are moving in the right direction and i'm proud that malaysia is one of the 'newly industrialised countries'...


having said this, i hope the public will think carefully and investigate before we say things that can only make things worse...depending the media as a way of getting information is not sufficiently accurate...while it is true of the saying 'where there is smoke, there is fire', it is also true that we don't want to willy-nilly jump into conclusions and look like a fool in the end...the media has its own propaganda...we need to look at a story from every sides...


anyway, i'm stressing here that i'm not claiming what manohara's mom said is true or not, but we as a public, shouldn't bicker like immature children about it....let the 'injured' and the 'accused' parties sort things out in privacy without external pressure...after all, who are we to throw stones?...all these fightings in youtube comment sections and fiery writings in blogs (such like i'm doing now), need to stop...stop pointing fingers...it never help...this is my last word on this issue of indonesia and malaysia relationship...i would not drag this further but lastly, please people, just think....


p/s: i may not be articulate but i'd hate to re-read and alter any part of these long-winded post ;)


Wednesday, September 2, 2009

i want this!

i fell in love with samsung omnia II about a few months ago (for those who have no idea what the heck i'm babbling about, it's a mobile phone)...it's sleek, it's beautiful and most importantly it's a touch screen phone...yes, i live like 3 years behind in terms of high-tech gadgets and so far i've only one mobile phone and have never changed it yet for a better model...my current phone was bought about 4 years ago (yes i got a phone late in life, the story of my life) and it looked so battered like it has been to war and has proud scratches and scars to prove....and not to mention a highly visible star-shaped crack that monopolises the right side of the screen...


anyway, samsung omnia II is my dream...i can't afford it unless i sell both of my kidneys...ah maybe my liver too...funnily i've never been into iphone (and all of i-stuff like itouch or ipods)...no matter how modern or beautiful iphone is, i've never have the slightest twinge to possess it (of course the sky-rocketing price plays a part in making that decision)...okay, maybe a bit (who wouldn't want a new phone???)...well, unless i got it as a gift or something...i love presents, so i'll never reject/return it, u know, just in case ehem any of u guys out there is planning to uhmm give me an iphone...


anyway, back to samsung omnia II...it has great features and specifications (that i would probably will never use, i'm a minimal-texter-and-caller kind of person)....its screen is large (i heard it has the largest screen relative to all other touch screens)...it also has a very beautiful colour resolution...the 5MP camera also doesn't hurt...anyway, give it a check at samsung omnia II page...hint hint - *i want this for my birthday this year ;)*



more clazziquai babbling...

when i have too much time in my hands i start doing stupid, time-wasting things like analysing song lyrics (while i should've been 'analysing' my study notes huhuhu)...anyway, i should've been doing my laundry (like i've mentioned to dora and yaya, like 34 times already since 3 weeks ago)...instead of doing time-worthy things like laundry, room and house cleaning and study, i listened to clazziquai's love ends million of times...yes, they have released their new album...it's called mucho punk (they have the weirdest album names i've heard in my short 18-years of life)...the japanese version is called mucho musica...


so far i'm liking the album, very very mucho...i don't like dance all that much but some that i love like sophie ellis baxtor, i really really love them...i'm not labelling this latest clazziquai offering as 'dance' genre, mind u (calm down, all die-hard fans out there!)...it's clazziquai (that should have describe it sufficiently)...by that, any clazziquai's fans should have known that they have an eclectic sound...it's always a mixture of a lot of genres that should've sound crazily mixed up but somehow they do this well...let me introduce u to my fav band:

  • alex has the smoothest voice ever...
  • horan has the sexiest deep voice that seduces in every song...
  • dj clazzi is the brain behind all of their great masterpieces...

all of them contribute into producing wondrous music that i love well...my favourite (most favourite) so far is their 'baby' offerings, instant pig and color your soul albums...jazz and groove at their best, i must say...but mucho punk has it's own allure...right now i'm jumping into love from one song to another...currently i have a love-affair with love ends...the tune is just addictive...anyway, give it a try!



do u like it?



Tuesday, September 1, 2009

funny thing

while i was stuck like a stuck pig in a pen in the bus to tauranga (remember my nausea?), rachel texted me...okay this is not a world revelation, we do text each other especially towards the end of the week since we do usually hang out on friday....anyway, i missed out friday-dinner-and-gossip for 3 weeks due to busy-ness...back to the main point, rachel suggested us watching rain's new movie...the main issue to be highlighted here is - we are not watching the movie for the story-line's sake or to critic rain's acting ability (i found him to be a reasonably able and good actor based on his previous dramas and movies)...


we are planning to watch because - bang the drums please - rain is ripping off his shirt and prancing off half naked!yay for all multiracial fangirls all around the world!and both of us are not even koreans!rachel is not even asian!hehehehe...i was like 'i'll pray so hard that he'll do some shirt-taking scenes!*squeal*!!!!'....and rachel reply was 'he DOES harley, he definitely DOES!fangirl screams!!!'....no need to convince me more rachel...i'm in!so...rachel is currently in hamilton now, enjoying her holiday....but as she said 'ill definitely be back!'...and off we go, happy squealing fangirls, waiting to glimpse a naked rain (err...semi-naked....after all he is not a porn artist) in the silver screen...


last words - it is a sad day to observe when i started to use the internet to check my 'convince' spelling...how fast and far the mighty falls (i feel like 'convincing' myself that i am after-all the know it all)....


clazziquai - love again

a quick shout-out to my favourite band, clazziquai (clazziquai project)...love their new song!so here it is - clazziquai - love again:






p/s (it seemed i've been doing all these p/s's a lot lately huhuhu): listening to love ends...it is such a fab song!love it!love it!love it!love it!!!!!


 
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